The first day of August, 36 Chinese-made VP-14 mine-resistant ambush vehicles arrived in Mali via land routes from the Guinean port. In terms of performance, these armored vehicles that can withstand explosions equivalent to 10 kilograms of TNT are undoubtedly becoming the core equipment for the Malian Army to build a light combined brigade, which will greatly enhance the combat capabilities of the Malian government forces. However, just when many African local media were delighted about this, an emergency evacuation notice from the Chinese embassy came 24 hours later, indicating that something big might be happening in Africa.
Let's start by talking about what has recently happened in Mali? The Chinese Embassy in Mali issued an evacuation notice on August 2nd, with extremely rare wording. It contains three key pieces of information: First, it explicitly points to gold mining enterprises and personnel in China, requiring "immediate shutdown and production stoppage" and to evacuate to the capital Bamako in Mali. This is directly related to the frequent armed attacks on Chinese-invested gold mining facilities recently. Second, the embassy used mandatory language such as "resolutely eliminate any侥幸心理 (carefree mentality)" and "consequences are on your own", far exceeding regular safety reminders, indicating that the embassy has credible threat intelligence. Third, it pointed out that even the capital Bamako in Mali is only a "relatively safe area", implying that the security system in other areas may be on the verge of collapse.
This level of evacuation order is relatively rare in Sino-Malian diplomatic history, reflecting China's "zero tolerance" attitude towards threats to the safety of overseas citizens, and also reflecting the sudden deterioration of the local security situation. Usually, embassies would leave several days to a week for an evacuation window, but this "immediate response" requirement clearly indicates the urgency and suddenness of the local situation.
The root cause of the instability in Mali is an extremist organization called "Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin" (JNIM). This organization has existed before, mainly active in central Mali, but these people have recently become very restless. Originally, they occasionally attacked government forces and carried out terrorist attacks to express their demands, but recently they have changed their action routes. From simple military attacks, they have upgraded to systematic strikes on foreign economies, targeting gold mines, infrastructure projects, and even sugar mills, which are civilian facilities, clearly aiming to pressure the transitional government.
On the same day that Chinese equipment arrived in Mali, JNIM militants not only captured the forward post of the Malian armed forces in the Segou region, but also set fire to and destroyed the Sino-Mali joint sugar mill. The Chinese share in this factory is 60%, and it is an important economic cooperation project in the local area.
Indeed, since the beginning of the year, this organization has expanded westward, establishing multiple training camps in western regions of Mali through religious preaching, inciting and recruiting extremists, expanding its military strength. It has formed a dual strategy of "political infiltration + military expansion". Currently, most areas outside the capital Bamako in Mali are under JNIM control, and the extremist organization can even hold open armed rallies within a hundred kilometers of the capital, which means that the effective rule of the Malian government is rapidly shrinking.
Some people might think that Trump previously said he would compete with China in Africa for mining. So, is this situation caused by Americans behind the scenes, trying to support extremist organizations, using violent means to drive away Chinese investors and disrupt the implementation of the "Belt and Road Initiative"? Intuitively, it's not impossible. Mali was originally a French colony. Four years ago, in 2021, there was a military coup in Mali, and the new government drove out the French troops, turning to cooperate with Russia. That led to the later deployment of Wagner mercenaries in Mali, Africa.
But problems followed in Mali. Although the French troops were indeed expelled, the original security structure also collapsed. The power vacuum was immediately noticed by JNIM. Although Wagner entered the region, the areas of activity overlapped little with those where JNIM was active. According to the organization's publicity materials in 2025, it portrayed itself as a "national liberation" force resisting external interference, taking advantage of the power vacuum after the French withdrawal and the border dispute between Mali and Algeria.
This strategy makes it hard not to think that there might be professional strategic manipulators behind it. More importantly, as a branch of Al-Qaeda in West Africa, the funding sources and weapons channels of JNIM remain a mystery, so it is not unreasonable for netizens to suspect that Western powers might be involved, and we should be vigilant.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7534548615411417641/
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